Internal-combustion rotary engine.



B. CONKLIN.

INTERNAL'COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE.

Patented Nov. 20, 1917. 3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

APPLICATION-FILED SEPT- 16, J1914.

. Brute CoM/n y @QL/ffy B. CUNKLIN.

INTERNAL coMBusTloN ROTARY ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. I6. 1914.

Patented NOV. 20, 1917.

BVUCE Conklin i f) wf/WWP B. CONKLIN.

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE. AIPLICATION FILED SEPT. I6 '|914-1,246,885 Patented Nov. 20, 1917.

. 3 SHEETS-SHEET a.

Bruce ConkIin yf/VM i UNTTED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE. N

BRUCE CONKIIN, OF WESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

INTERNAL-COMBUSTION ROTARY ENGINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2o, 191'?.

Application led September 16, 1914. Serial No. 862,630.

To 'all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, BRUCE CoNxLIN, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at IVestminster, in 'the county of Middlesex, England,have invented a new and useful Improvement'in and Relating toInternal-Combustion Rotary Engines, `of i which the following is aspecification.

lThis invention has reference to explosive engines of the rotary type inwhich the impulse from successive explosions causes rotation of therotary drum of the engine, and relates more particularly to an engine'of that kind in whichthe rotatable element vis provided with radialvanes which cooperate with synchronously rotated valves to compress thecharges at one stage in the movement of the element; and to receive theimpulses from the explosions at another stage. The invention has for oneof its objects to vimprove and simplify the construction of engines ofthe 4aforesaid type whereby they may be rendered more efficient inoperation.

Further'objects areto provide an engine in which there shall be no largemasses of metal in surface contact, or in other words to so constructthe engine that friction between the moving parts shall be reduced to aminimumas by this means troubles arising from expansion due to the hightemperature of the combustion gases will be obviated to a largev extent.

In its broadest aspect my invention contemplates an internal combustionrotary engine comprising two elements relatively movable in an angulardirection one of said elements having a plurality 'of rotary re` eessedabutments and rthe other of said elements a plurality of vanes thearrangement being suchthat between the rotating parts removable packingrstrips or rings are arranged so that the parts in actual contact. are fvery small area. In other words the construction is such that if thepacking strips and rings are removed there will be no parts in contactexcept the face contact of the rotary abutments with the outer casingand the Contact at the antifriction bearing which is provided betweenthe two elements. t

The aforementioned and other obJects as `may hereinafter appearv or areincidental to the invention are attained by the means which I will nowproceedvto describe in detail for the ready understanding of whichreferenceshould be had to the accompanylng drawlngs in which:

Figure 1 is a section of a rotary internal combustion engine embodyingthe inventionV taken on the linea-a ofFigJEZ.

'Fig'. 2 is a section on line b-Z) Fig. 1.

Figs. Sand 4 illustrate a modication. In the embodiment of the inventionillustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 the power shaft 1 or a sleeve thereoncarries a cylinder comprising two end shields 2 and 3 two internally,toothed rings 4 and 5 and an annular wall 6 assembled and bolted bybolts 7 in such a manner that the toothed rings 4 and 5 are `located atopposite ends of the cylinder ad- ]acent the -end shields.

Passing concentrically through the cylinder thus formed is a shaft 8 towhich a drum 9 is secured said drum being in the constructionillustrated scalloped or hollowed out at two diametrically oppositepomts to accommodate two rotatably mounted abutments 10 and 11 one ofwhich 10 constitutes a'rotary valve and `the other 11 a rotary seal. Thedrum isprovided with packing rings to lsecure gas tight engagement withthat part of the outer cylinder with which it comes in contact.

The rotary abutment 10 is in the form of'.`

a hollow drum and carries at each end a gear 12 meshing with therespective toothed ring 4 or 5 built into the main cylinder. A slot 13(Fig. 1) is provided in the rotary abutment 10 and extends in adirection parl other end is sealed as at. 1S but a number of ports 19are provided in=the compression chamber 15 for a purpose hereinafterdescribed.

The rotary abutment 11 is preferably a solid cylinder carrying at eachend a gear 20 meshing with the respective toothed ring 4 or 5 built intothe main cylinder.

The rotary abutment 10 and the rotary abutment 11 `are free to berotated in the mainl drum by the rotation of theA outer cyl'- indei andthe toothed gear above described, said abutments 10 and 11 each makingthree revolutions for every revolution of the cylinder. The smoothperipheries of the abutments 10 and 11 make gas tight contact withthe'smooth bore of the cylinder which latter is provided with threevanes 21 also making gas tight'contact by means of a packing strip 21with the smooth periphery of the drum.

It may here be stated that the function of the gears above described arenot only to positively rotate the paits ybut to insure that the slotorgroove for the reception of the vanes should occupy thecorrect positionas thel vanes are successively presented to them and further-that it isan important part of the invention that the abutments should run in facecontact with and at the same face speed as the outer cylinder so thatthe seals make one revolution while one vane is traveling through adistance equal to the distance between the centers of any two vanes orin other words the circumference .of the abutmentsshould be equal'to thedistance between-the centers of any two varies.

It will be-apparent that with this arrangement it is necessary to makeprovision for the vanes 21 carried by the rotary cylinder to pass therotarv abutment 10 and the rotary abutment 11and this is accomplished inthe case of the rotary abutment 10 by means of the slot 13 abovereferred tobemg so disposed that each vane 21 passes through saine andinto the abutment during the time the vane is passing from one side ofthe rotary abutment to the other. In the case of the rotary abutment agroove 22 is provided and so disposed as to allowT each vane 21 to passwhile both parts are rotating the groove and vane being so shaped thatone edge of the groove slides in close contact with one face of the vaneas it enters the groove and the other edge of the groove slides in closecontact with the opposite face of the vane as it leaves the groovethereby securing a gas tight joint during the passage of the vane fromone side of the rotary abutment to the other. y

The construction and mounting of the aforesaid vanesis a feature ofconsiderable importance to the successful running of the engine and Iwill therefore describe same in detail;` Each vane 21 (see Fig. 4) isdovetailed into the outer annular wall 6 and is provided with a packingstrip 23 adapted to be pressed outwardly by the springs 2t so as to makegas tight engagement wit-h the periphery of the drum 9. In order toprevent said `,packing strip 23 `being displaced,

when the vane enters either the slot 13 or the groove in the rotaryabutments 10 and 11 respectively the vane is made slightly longer thanthe rotary abutments 10 and 11 as the case may be consequently the endsof passages 27 and 28 in the drum 9. These passages communicate onopposite sides of the rotary abutment 11 with the chamber formed betweenthe drum and the cylinder in which the vanes rotate.' One set of ductsand passages 25 and 27-cominunicate with the fuel supply and the otherset 2G and 28 form the exhaust outlet -for the burnt gases.

The operation of the engine constructed as hereinbefore described is asfollows, it being of course understoodthat the drum 9 is stationary andthe outer cylinder rotating and the rotary abutment-s also rotating bymeans of the toothed gear above described, the arrows on the respectiveparts indicating the direction of revolution.,

At any given instant in a single cylinder engine unit one charge of fuelis being drawn in, a second charge is Vbeing compressed, a thirdchargeis undergoing combustion and a fourth charge of burnt gases isbeing expelled. Following the motion of onevane 21 through a completerevolution and commencing4 when it is just leaving the slot 22 in therotary abutment 11, the cycle is as follows: A charge of working fluidhaving been drawn through the induction ports 25 into the cylinder space17 in front of the vane 21, the forward motion of the latter compressesthe mixture and drives it through the non-return valve 1,6 into thecompression chamber 15 and as the slot 13 in the rotary abutment 10passes'the successiveyports 19 the compressed charge passes into theinterior of the abutment 10. When the vane 21 reaches the abutment 10the slot 13 is in position to receive it and said vane passes-while theabutment is rotating-to the other side of the abutment and as the vanecommences to leave said abutment on the opposite side the vexplosivemixture under compression is admitted from the interior of the rotaryabutment into the space between the vane (shown in the dotted positionin Fig. 1) and the 'rotary abutment. It will thus be apparent thatthe-.rotary abutment serves to transfer the compressed working chargefrom the front of the vane 21 to the rear of the same vane when thislatter is in the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1. As the vaneleaves the slot in the abutment, said slot is sealed by passing into thecompression chamber 15 in the drum and at this instant the charge in ahighly compresesd condition is fired and the eXpansion, due tocombustion drives the vane 21 forward. The forward motion of the vane 21during this part of the cycle expels the products of combustion due tothe firing of the previous charge and brings the vane 2l into engagementwith the slot 22 in the r0- tary abutment 11 ready to repeat the cycle.Each vane receives one impulse per revolution and sincet there are threevanes there will be three power impulses pervrevolutionv of the cylinderwhich in this case also operates as a flywheel for the engine.

I will now describe the means employed for obtaining. variation oficompression of the working fluid so as tokdbtaina variable strokeengine.

Referring first to Fig. 1 it will be seen that I have provided aplurality of ducts 29 in the drum 9 leading from the induction passageto several dierent points on the periphery of the drum and each of theseducts is adapted to be controlled by valves 45 (Fig. 2) operated by rods46 leading to the exterior. These ducts when open and in front of arotating vane act as relief valves through which a part of the fueladmittedat the main inlet is forced back in the induction passage.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a somewhat modified constructionwherein the means for transferring the compressed working fluid to therear of the vane just prior to ignition is arranged upon the outercylinder instead of within the drum 9. as illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2.

In this construction the drum 9'is provided with two rotary abutmentsl11 actuated by gearing similar to that hereinbefore described withreference to Figs. 1 and 2. It will be seen that the recesses in thedrum to receive the abutments are made of such size that there shall bea minimum of friction between the rotating parts. In the upper abutmentI have shown the recess as maklng contact with the abutment at thepoints 0-0 while the lower abutment is shown as located in a recessprovided with packing strips d-eL The rotary valve 10 of which intheexample illustrated there are three are located in valve casings 32carried by the outer c linder and each of said valves 10 is provi edwith a spindlepassing through a stuilng box to the outside of thecylinder'said spindle carrying a sprocket wheel to which m0- tionis-transmitted by any suitable gearing such for instance as chain andsprocket gear( e The rotary valves 10 are each provided with a port 33and the outer cylinder vis also provided with ports 34 and 35 one onleach side of each of the vanes 21 and adapted to communicate at certaintimes with the port 33 in the rotary valve as will now be exf plained.

Assuming the parts to be in the position illustrated in Fig. 3 it willbe seen that the vane 21 at the left of the figure is compressing acharge of working fluid in the cylinder space 17. As the vane approachesthe upper of the two abutments 11 the rotary valve is so timed that itsport 33 registers with the port 34 and the compressed charge enters thevalve which'the'n closes and passes into the storage chamber 36 withwhich c each of the rotary valves communicate.

The vane now passes to the other side of the rotary abutment and as itleaves the slot and the rot-ary abutment.l The rotary valve.

now closes and then the mixture is fired andthe expansion due tocombustion drives the vane forward. The succeeding'operations of thecycle 'are similar to those described with reference to the constructionshown in Figs. 1 and 2 and I therefore do not deem it necessary torepeat them as they will be readily understood by .those skilled in theart to which this invention appertains. v

The outer cylinder may be provided with cooling `fins and a circulationof cooling water is maintained Vwithin the drum and one means ofeffecting such water cooling together with the means for introducing theworking fluid and' exhausting the products of combustion and thelubrication of the moving parts is shown in Fig. 3.

The drum shaft 8 is provided withfa number of bores or ductscommunicating with passages in the drum 9. The duct 37 serves for theadmission of the working fluid and communicates with the induction port38 in the drum.A The duct 39 communicates with.

the exhaust port 40. inthe drum whereby the burnt gases may be led'away. y Cooling wateris admitted through theduct 41 and aftercirculating through the jacket 42 formed in the drum escapes through theduct 43. The bores 44 are for the purpose of introducing lubricant tothe working parts and thesemay open into any suitable position in theengine to obtain effective lubrication of the parts.

An engine constructed in accordance with this invention `may be utilizedto transmit power in either direction of rotation at will as it will beapparent that if the outer cylinder is locked against rotation such asby a suitable brake mechanism theinner drum will then rotate in theopposite direction ed about said drum to form an annularvworkingchamber, means for positively rotating said rotary abutment,means for securing a gas tight joint between said abutments and therotary casing and between said vanes and drum, means for introducingworking fluid through the drum tothe annular working chamber, meanswhereby the compressed working fiuid is transferred from one side of therotary abutment to the other, means for igniting the compressed chargeand means for-exhausting the burnt gases.

2. An internal combustion rotary engine comprising an inner normallystationary drum having a plurality of' rotary abutments, induction andexhaust passages in said drum, an outer rotatable easing having aplurality ofV vanes and concentrically mounted about said drum to forman annular working chamber, a compression chamber to said drum, meansfor circulating cooling l water through said drum, an outerrotatablecasing having a plurality of vanes and concentrically mounted about saiddrum to form an annular working chamber, rotary valves mounted `on saidouter casing, an annular compression chamber exterior of said casing,means for introducing the Working fluid through said drum to the Workingchamber, means for compressing the Working fluid into the compressionchamber, means for transferring a portion of the compressed gases fromsaid compression chamber to the working chamber, means for igniting saidgases and means for exhausting the spent gases through the drum.

BRUCE coNKLiN.

Witnesses i A. E. WHITE, S. WEsTcoT,

